Friday Night Lights Movie Isn't Happening

In news that probably won’t come as a major surprise to anyone, but is still going to be disappointing to some fans, Peter Berg — director of Friday Night Lights, the film, and creator of FNL, the TV series that followed — says the movie that would have served as a follow-up to the series isn’t happening.

Collider sat down with Berg to talk about his upcoming movie Lone Survivor and during the conversation, they inquired about the rumored FNL movie. Berg responded:

"There’s not gonna be a movie. We talked about it, some people thought it was a good idea, some didn’t; I’ve come to believe it’s probably not a good idea and I seriously doubt it’s gonna happen."

Talk of a Friday Night Lights movie goes back to 2011 when the NBC series wrapped up. However, since then, the cast has scattered, going on to pick up other projects. For Connie Britton, who played Coach Taylor’s wife Tami, it’s a steady gig on ABC’s country music drama Nashville, while Kyle Chandler has taken roles in films like Argo, Zero Dark Thirty and the upcoming Scorsese pic The Wolf on Wall Street. Aimee Teegarden, who played the Taylor daughter Julie, is set to star in the CW’s new sci-fi teen drama Star-Crossed, which debuts during Midseason. And those are just three of Friday Night Lights’s stars. Gathering the full -- or even a satisfactory partial -- cast that included all or most of the fan favorites would’ve been a challenge on its own.

As a fan of the series, I’d certainly see a(nother) Friday Night Lights movie, but I’m not particularly devastated that it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. Among the series that "need" a follow-up film, Friday Night Lights isn’t particularly high on that list mainly because the series ended really well, which is a lot more than can be said for other TV shows that were either cancelled before their time or else, ended poorly for whatever the reason. I wouldn’t even argue that the series was cancelled too soon. While it’s definitely true that the drama never earned the ratings it deserved, it had a solid five-season run and it didn’t overstay its welcome. So it seems, for now, the series is where this story ends. But factoring in the ongoing trend of reboots and remakes in Hollywood, let’s face it, there’s always the chance we’ll see the Dillon Panthers back on the screen, either big or small. Clear eyes, full hearts. Can’t lose!

You’ll find Friday Night Lights on our list of 100+ Netflix TV offerings available to binge-watch over the holidays.